'Making Claremont Great'

Marie Lindblom hit the ground running in her new job as Claremont’s city administrator.

Among her early goals: to be part of a team that works to improve the Dodge County city of about 540 people.

“We have a lot of ideas, and we would like to implement them,” said Lindblom, who started work July 5. “I also would like to keep all the city departments cohesive. They do a pretty good job. And I would like to be part of that.

“My biggest goal,” she said, “is to be part of the team that makes Claremont the great town that it is.”

The U.S. Army veteran and her husband, Tom, moved to Claremont in 2001. They have two grown children.

Marie was a city council member from 2015 through 2016, until the city decided to ll the vacant administrator’s position.

City councilors liked her finance background and experience with grant-writing, Mayor David Luedtke said.

We needed a little bit more leadership in the city structure,” he said. “I think she’s definitely got the leadership abilities, and the sort of things that we need. The city can’t afford a seasoned

city administrator, but she does have a lot of experience in administration. Running the city is a lot like running a business. I think it’s going to be a really good.”

Lindblom said she has several projects to work on, but tries not to take them home with her.

Listening, she said, is a big part of her job.

“As long as you’re willing to listen, and hear what somebody is saying, you can generally work things out,” she said. “I just need to sit and listen to what’s going on. I find my biggest asset is thatI can listen and hear what people are saying, before I just automatically jump to a conclusion.”

She said she appreciates that her children could “be themselves” while growing up in tiny Claremont, and looks forward to helping improve the town.

A cleanup of Henning Park is scheduled for Saturday, July 22. Andthe city and Chamber of Commerce are working to maintain the annual Hogfest celebration, scaled down this year due to a lack of volunteers.

“Every town can be improved upon, and I want to be part of that process,” Lindblom said “I would like the residents to look forward to being here. We’ve got a good mix of people, and that makes it unique, makes it enjoyable. It’s uniqueness you’d like to be around.

“I’d like to preserve the ‘small-town, piece-of-mind’ kind of community,” she said.

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